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1KHO 585: Low Tech and High Text (How to Build Your Child’s Brain with Books and Not Screens) | Doug Lemov, The Science of Reading

Sep 29, 2025

Guest

Doug Lemov

Doug Lemov, an education expert and author of 'Teach Like a Champion,' dives into the urgent need for a low-tech, high-text approach in childhood learning. He explains how screens undermine attention and promote skim-reading, while books foster deep thinking and vocabulary expansion. Highlighting the power of reading aloud, he shares strategies for improving fluency and comprehension. With insights on formative writing and outdoor reading habits, Doug offers parents practical advice to transform reading into a joyful, immersive experience.

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INSIGHT

Screens Shrink Attention; Books Build Stamina

Screens rewire attention: they train quick novelty-seeking and fragment reading patterns.
Books cultivate sustained attention, patience, and deeper gratification over time.

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ADVICE

Read Aloud Every Day

Read aloud daily and alternate reading with your child to build fluency.
Keep reading aloud even after kids can read independently, including teens.

insights

INSIGHT

Fluency’s Three Pillars And Book Vocabulary

Fluency has three pillars: accuracy, automaticity, and prosody.
Children's books expose readers to many rare words and boost vocabulary more than conversation.

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Screens vs. Books: How Devices Rewire Attention

01:12 • 7min

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The Power of Reading Aloud for Fluency

08:41 • 38sec

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Fluency's Three Pillars: Accuracy, Automaticity, Prosody

09:19 • 2min

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Children's Books Deliver Rich Vocabulary

11:20 • 4min

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Writing as a Thinking Tool and Vocabulary Booster

Read-Aloud Families and Lifelong Listening Rituals

19:47 • 1min

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Background Knowledge: What Kids Need To Comprehend

20:51 • 8min

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Feeding Knowledge While Reading to Aid Inference

29:02 • 2min

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Consequences of Disfluent Reading and Fluency Statistics

Annotating, Handwriting, and the Cognitive Benefits of Margin Notes

35:49 • 4min

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Why Writing Matters Despite AI: The Marathon Analogy

39:56 • 2min

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Handwritten Notes Forge Deeper Learning

41:33 • 2min

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Books as Optimal Medium: The Message of Long-Form Reading

43:26 • 7min

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Stories Are Cognitively Privileged for Learning

50:36 • 5min

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Reading Stamina, Screens, and the Antidote of Books

55:25 • 23sec

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Early Reading Science: Phonics vs. Three-Cueing

55:47 • 53sec

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Favorite Outdoor Reading Memory

56:40 • 2min

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Practical Parent Advice: Books, Read Alouds, and Outdoor Rituals

• Mentioned in 38 episodes

CHARLOTTE'S WEB

E. B. White

Charlotte's Web, written by E.B. White, is a timeless children's classic that tells the story of Wilbur, a pig, and Charlotte, a spider, who form an unlikely friendship. The story is set on a farm and revolves around the efforts of Charlotte to save Wilbur from being slaughtered. Through their relationship, the book explores themes of friendship, courage, self-sacrifice, and the natural cycle of life and death. The novel is known for its vivid depiction of farm life and its ability to address complex emotions and themes in a way that is accessible to children. The book has been widely acclaimed and has sold over 45 million copies worldwide since its publication in 1952.

#1086

• Mentioned in 26 episodes

Little House on the Prairie

Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Little House on the Prairie series consists of nine novels that follow the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder from her childhood in the Big Woods of Wisconsin to her adulthood in the Dakota Territory. The books chronicle the Ingalls family's experiences, including their moves to various parts of the American frontier, their struggles with disease and natural disasters, and their daily life as pioneers. The series includes titles such as 'Little House in the Big Woods,' 'Little House on the Prairie,' 'On the Banks of Plum Creek,' 'By the Shores of Silver Lake,' 'The Long Winter,' 'Little Town on the Prairie,' 'These Happy Golden Years,' and 'Farmer Boy,' which is about Almanzo Wilder, Laura's future husband.

#20145

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

How Children Learn

John Caldwell Holt

In 'How Children Learn,' John Holt argues that children learn most effectively when they are motivated by their own interests and allowed to learn on their own terms. The book, first published in 1967 and revised in 1983, is divided into sections such as 'Games and Experiments,' 'Talk,' 'Reading,' 'Sports,' and 'Art, Maths and Other Things. ' Holt observes children in various learning environments, highlighting the importance of meaningful and self-directed learning. He advocates for patience, loving guidance, and the avoidance of coercive teaching methods, emphasizing that children will learn naturally if given the opportunity and resources without fear or pressure.

#62973

Brown Girl Dreaming

Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming is a powerful memoir in verse that explores Jacqueline Woodson's childhood, capturing the realities of growing up as an African American girl during the Civil Rights movement. The book delves into themes of family, identity, and belonging, set against the backdrop of significant social change.

The Read-Aloud Family

Sarah Mackenzie

#24229

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading

Translating Research to Reignite Joy and Meaning in the Classroom

• Mentioned in 4 episodes

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Siegfried Engelmann

Phyllis Haddox

Elaine Bruner

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is a step-by-step, phonics-based program that helps parents teach their children to read in just 20 minutes a day. It is an adaptation of a successful school reading program, using the Direct Instruction approach, which has been supported by numerous research studies. The book provides a comprehensive guide to teaching reading skills, from basic to advanced levels, reaching a second-grade reading level by the end of the lessons.

#1574

• Mentioned in 19 episodes

Boys in the Boat

Daniel James Brown

The book chronicles the journey of nine working-class American boys from the University of Washington who, despite long odds, won the gold medal in rowing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The story is set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the rise of Nazi Germany. It focuses on Joe Rantz, a teenager who overcame significant personal hardships to become part of the team. The narrative also explores the broader historical context, including the political and social climate of both the United States and Germany during that era. The book highlights the determination, grit, and teamwork of the crew members as they achieved an extraordinary sports achievement.

#2639

• Mentioned in 13 episodes

Atonement

Ian McEwan

The novel centers around Briony Tallis, a thirteen-year-old girl who, in 1935, witnesses a flirtation between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination lead her to make a false accusation that changes all their lives. The story follows the repercussions of this event through World War II and into the late 20th century, as Briony spends her life trying to make amends for her mistake. The novel is a complex exploration of guilt, atonement, and the nature of writing and memory.

Screens train us to skim; books train us to think. In this urgent, hope-filled conversation, Doug Lemov (Teach Like a Champion) and Ginny make a compelling case for a childhood culture that is low tech, high text. You’ll hear why book-reading is collapsing—what that’s doing to kids’ attention, imagination, and empathy—and exactly how to reverse it with simple habits: daily read-aloud (even with teens), real books you can annotate, and outdoor reading rituals that pair sunlight and birdsong with stories.

Doug breaks down fluency’s three pillars—accuracy, automaticity, and prosody—and explains why even picture books carry 50% more rare words than adult speech, rapidly expanding vocabulary and background knowledge (think the classic “baseball study”).

You’ll also learn why formative writing—quick, handwritten jot notes before discussion—supercharges comprehension (and beats laptop note-taking); why books are the optimal medium for deep thinking; and how to spot and fix disfluent reading. Finally, Doug demystifies the phonics vs. three-cueing debate and points parents to the investigative series changing laws nationwide: Sold a Story. If you want your kids to imagine vividly, read confidently, and engage the world with stamina and joy, this episode is your blueprint to trade scrolling for page-turning—on the porch, at the park, all childhood long.

Get your copy of Guide to the Science of Reading here

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